Solutions to Estate planning & administration

PROBATE PRE-DEATH PLANNING includes appointing an Agent under a Durable Power of Attorney for Asset Management to act in your stead when you are incapacitated, and an Agent under a Health Care Directive for Medical Decisions. The latter documents your wishes regarding long-term care, incapacity, end-of-life decisions, and organ donation considerations. Co-Habitation Agreement, Community Property Agreement, a Pre- or Post-Nuptial Agreement, are some tools utilized by unmarried cohabitants, or those contemplating nuptials. Living Trusts provide for estate administration during life, and asset distribution both during life, and after death. A Living Trust is an essential Probate avoidance tool, and tax/succession planning tools. Trusts can be structured in different ways to play different roles, and can be skillfully utilized to benefit not only their creators (the Settlors) but also the Trust Beneficiaries. A Will, while appointing an Executor, almost always goes through formal Probate, and is generally replaced by setting up a Trust.

BUSINESS SUCCESSION PLANNING is essential to those who hold interests in Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships, Professional Corporations, etc. This includes Assigning those business interests to the living Trust, and reissuing share or membership certificates, as well as updating the Bylaws, Operating or Partnership Agreements of the business entities to reflect the existence of the living Trust.

PLANNING FOR CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES includes a periodic (every five to seven years) review of your existing estate plan to ensure it is in line with both current law, and your changed circumstances, including size of your assets and specific needs of the family. Where warranted, a Trust Amendment or Restatement may be utilized to update an existing Trust, or a Trust governed by another jurisdiction. Divorce or a second marriage almost always necessitates a review and rebuilding of the estate plan to reflect the changed circumstances and ensure the interests of all family members (including children from prior marriage) are protected.

FIRST-TO-DIE TRUST ADMINISTRATION includes assisting a surviving Settlor/Trustee in implementing the terms of a Trust upon the first Settlor’s death, and planning for the needs of the Survivor. Portability issues, Asset Valuations, and Sub-Trust funding are usually the issues that the Trustees of a complex trust grapple with at this stage.

PROBATE AND POST-DEATH ADMINISTRATION the process of passing inheritance on, can include Administration of a Trust, or administration of an Estate not exceeding the probate threshold (Small Estate Administration), or engaging in the formal court Probate process – depending on what the assets warrant, where they are located, how title is held at the time of death, and who the successors in interest are. We will guide you through this process to determine the precise type of administration necessary at the most efficient cost.